The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
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Chicken Bacon Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

4.83 Mitt(s) 18 Rating(s)18 votes, average: 4.83 out of 518 votes, average: 4.83 out of 518 votes, average: 4.83 out of 518 votes, average: 4.83 out of 518 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5

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Level: Easy

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Description

This may be the tastiest recipe for macaroni and cheese that I have ever tried. I use reduced fat cheese and fat free milk. You won’t miss the “real stuff” one bit.

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces, weight Uncooked Elbow Macaroni
  • 4 slices Applewood Smoked Bacon
  • 8 ounces, weight Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, Cut Into 1/2-inch Pieces
  • ½ teaspoons Onion Powder
  • ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • 1 Tablespoon Butter
  • 1 Tablespoon Flour
  • 1-½ cup Fat Free Milk
  • ½ cans (10 Oz. Size) Condensed Cream Of Chicken Soup
  • ¼ cups Bottled Ranch Dressing
  • ¾ cups Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
  • ½ cups French Fried Onions
  • ½ cups Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan. Finely chop bacon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Season chicken with onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Add chicken to drippings in pan; sauté 6 minutes or until done.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; sprinkle flour evenly into pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Combine milk and soup, stirring with a whisk; then gradually add milk mixture to saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thick. Add ranch dressing and 3/4 cups of cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in pasta and chicken.

Preheat broiler.

Spoon pasta mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with reserved bacon, fried onions and 1/2 cup of cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts.

5 Comments

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leahbeyer on 5.11.2011

Made this tonight! Love it. Will be a regular dish for us.

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misskitty2929jax on 4.20.2011

Thanks you guys! My picky husband (who claims to not like mac n cheese) loves it too.

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lauren01 on 4.18.2011

This was a hit with me and my picky husband. It’s just as good reheated too!

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hcqq on 4.16.2011

sooooo delicious. tried this last night and my family loved it!

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Brandi on 1.17.2011

Made this tonight. I substituted Cream of Broccoli soup for the cream of chicken and added half a bag of frozen broccoli to the sauce as it was heating. Served with a spinach salad. It was a huge hit and deemed “a keeper” by my 8 year old son. Thank you for sharing!

18 Reviews

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terrilw on 8.4.2014

Everyone loved it! I baked it for about 20 minutes to heat it through before I added the toppings and broiled it for a few minutes.

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Amanda on 11.3.2011

This got 2 thumbs up from my 9 year old. I didn’t do the butter and flour mix. Only added a little cornstarch and water just to tighten it up a bit (still saucy) and then I baked it for about 15 minutes. Yummy!!! And still have a nice sauce. Will make again.

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Natalie on 8.30.2011

This was really wonderful! The whole family loved it! Can’t go wrong with bacon & the crispy onions on top went perfectly!

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rhondalp on 8.22.2011

Very tasty and very filling and very easy – defnitely a keeper!

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adders on 8.18.2011

We really didn’t care for this recipe. We picked the bacon and onions off the top, but really didn’t care for the rest. My one year old barely even touched it. Thanks for sharing, though! It’s always fun to try something new!

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